CLOSING BELL Benchmark indices bucked the weak Asian trend and rose on Friday as the Assembly elections' euphoria extended into a second day. However, developments around the Ukrainian war, commodity prices, and the US inflation data kept the markets volatile through the day.
The S&P BSE Sensex hit a high of 55,834 in early deals but eased off to end at 55,550, up 86 points or 0.15 per cent. The Nifty50, on the other hand, settled at 16,630, up 35 points or 0.2 per cent.
The breadth was well-balanced as equal number of stocks advanced and declined on both the frontline indices. The gainers included Cipla, Sun Pharma, BPCL, JSW Steel, Dr Reddy's Labs, IOC, Power Grid, Coal India, and ITC, while the losers were Nestle India, Maruti Suzuki, Tata Consumer Products, Tata Steel, Britannia, Axis Bank, Hindalco, NTPC, Eicher Motors, and TCS.
In the broader markets, the Midcap index (up 0.45 per cent) and the Smallcap index (up 0.87 per cent) on the BSE outperformed the benchmarks.
Among individual stocks, shares of
BSE Ltd hit a record high of Rs 2,868 after they rallied 10 per cent on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) in Friday's intra-day trade.
READ MORE That apart, shares of
paper companies, including JK Paper, Tamil Nadu Newsprint & Paper, West Coast Paper Mills, Ruchira Papers and Star Paper Mills rallied up to 14 per cent on Friday, amid heavy volumes, on expectation that re-opening of offices, educational institutions, and courts will lead to regularization of demand.
READ MORE Sugar stocks, too, were on a roll on Friday with frontline stocks like Balrampur Chini Mills, Triveni Engineering & Industries, Dhampur Sugar Mills, Avadh Sugar & Energy and Dwarikesh Sugar Industries hitting their respective record highs. These shares rallied up to 11 per cent each in the intra-day trade on strong outlook and foreign institutional investors (FIIs) buying.
READ MORE Sectorally, the Nifty Pharma index was the best performing index, rising 2.5 per cent on the NSE. The Nifty Auto index, on the other hand, slipped 0.4 per cent.
Global markets
European markets nudged higher on Friday, as global investors assessed soaring US inflation and a hawkish surprise from the European Central Bank, while continuing to track developments in Ukraine. The pan-European Stoxx 600 added 0.5 per cent in early trade, with travel and leisure stocks climbing 2.4 per cent to lead gains.
Dow Jones, S&P500, and Nasdaq Composite Futures, on Wall Street, added about 0.2 per cent each.
Asian stocks, however, ended with cuts on Friday amid fears of U-delisting of Chinese shares in the US. Hang Seng fell 1.6 per cent, Nikkei dropped 2 per cent, and Kospi slipped 0.7 per cent.
 "Sensex adds 86 pts; GNFC, JK Paper surge 12% each, auto stocks slide")
